Emily
by Kana-chan
Summary: What if the Enterprise had gotten to that alien ship too late and Trip had to keep that baby? AU! CHAPTER 14 UP!
1. Baby on Board

Well this is my first Star Trek fanfiction, my third story. This takes place after "Unexpected", but with an altrinate universe twist: what if the enterprise had gotten to that alien ship too late and Trip had to keep that alien baby?

Well, enjoy and review!

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The enterprise gently coasted along as they came apaun a large cloud of debris. 

"T'Pol what is this. Where is the Xyrillian ship?" asked Captain Archer.

"It appears to have been destroyed, Captain, that cloud of debris is all that remains." She answered.

Trip felt his heart fall. He felt sorry that Ah'len was dead, but he was worried as to what he would do about the child growing on his side. 

"Trip, see me in my ready room."

Trip followed the captain into the small office. He sat on the couch across from the captain.

"I would assume that you have made plans for the worst Trip."  Said Jon.

"Well of course I have, Jon, but I guess I was hoping that I wouldn't have to use them." He said.

"You should go see doctor Phlox and see if you need to do anything drastic."

"Yea, sure" Trip said getting up from the couch.

"Oh, and Trip, I sure am looking forward to the pitter patter of little feet."

"Shut up!"

All Trip could hear as he walked to the turbo lift was the muffled laughing of his friend.

When he got to the sick bay the doctor was already waiting for him.

"The captain told me that the ship had been destroyed when you left. He seemed quite amused at the time."

"I'm sure." Trip said sarcastically. 

Doctor Phlox gave him a full body scan again and determined that the baby would be able to live outside of Trip in about four months. 

"I'll want to talk to you in about another month, and don't do anything very straining until I can remove the baby." Doctor Phlox said as he was getting ready to leave. "Oh, and I was wondering if you wanted to know the baby's gender?"

Trip had to admit that he was curious.

"Sure."

"Well I can't be sure exactly, because of Xyrillian technology, but I think that you're going to have a daughter."

Trip smiled, nodded and left the room. Every second it seemed less and less like a dream and more real. He, a man, was going to have an alien daughter. He would have to start thinking of names! When he got to his quarters there was a chime from his com in the wall.

"Trip, this is Jon. Just so you know I'll have to tell the other officers about your condition, or things could get real confusing."

"Yea, I know, cap. I'll try and be discrete."

"And, Doctor Phlox told just told me that you aren't allowed to work in engineering until the child is born."

"Yea, I know, Jon. The Doc already told me, you don't have to get all protective on me all of a sudden."

"Alright, alright, just be careful, this is supposed to be a happy time. Jon out."

Trip turned off is com with an angry motion. Why the hell did everyone have to start treating him like he was made of glass all of a sudden?! It was so frustrating. Trip yanked off his large shirt to reveal the lump on his side that was his daughter. She started to squirm a little.

"Hey, babe, it's alright, daddy's here." He said sweetly before sitting at his computer.

"Alright, we gotta find a name for you, its only four months before I get to see you. I gotta make all kind of arrangements; maybe I could have Jon give some supplies to make your crib." He said talking to himself.

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A/N: well, I thought that was pretty funny, maybe a little corny at the end.

Tell me what you think! What would you change to make it better. Flame me if you want but that would be rude and I hate rude people (I just saw hannable last night so that last bit was a little irresistible. ^-^)


	2. Disclaimer

Oh my god! I forgot a disclaimer again! Well this dosen't belong to me at all except the plot. Don't' sue me I'm poor, and please enjoy "Emily"!


	3. Letters and Cravings

Well this is the third chapter of "Emily"

Please enjoy and riveiw!

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Trip was sound asleep when his alarm went off. _Damn, 0600 already. He thought angrily. He saw that he had gotten some messages from some of his fellow crewmates. He opened the one from T'Pol first._

_Tucker-_

_Your current _condition_ was not unexpected, but, in my own view, inevitable. I am surprised that I did not see it coming. I wish you the best of luck on your upcoming parenthood. It will be quite intriguing._

_T'Pol_

Trip could feel the rage building up inside of him more and more. That woman! Damn her straight to the bowels of hell for all eternity and more!

He moved on to the next letter, hoping that it would be more sympathetic to his situation.

_Trip-_

_I know I don't really know you that well, but when the captain told me about your predicament I was surprised, then amused (I'm sorry, but you have to admit that it really is pretty funny.) and I would really like to help you. So if you need anything, anything at all, just ask. _

_Good luck!_

_Hoshi_

He smiled at Hoshi's letter of encouragement, he was really glad he had someone to depend on other than Jon and Phlox. He moved on to the next letter with a smile on his face.

_Commander Tucker-_

_The Captain suggested that we write letters to you about what happened._ (Well that explains a lot, thought Trip.)_. I don't really know what to say in this kind of circumstance but I really hope the best for you and your child._

_-Lieutenant Malcolm Reed_

Trip actually laughed at this letter just because he didn't know that a person could actually be that stiff. He moved on to the next letter intensively glad that he had read T'Pol's letter first.

_Commander Tucker-_

_I don't really know what to say, but Hoshi helped me some. I really hope that every thing goes alright for you and your child. I'm sure that everything will go fine but I think that some encouragement will help._

_-Travis_

_P.S. Some good names if you're looking for some are, Emily or Edward. Their initials would be ET!_

Trip laughed at the post script and thought that Emily was a good name. He got up and started striping as he walked to the shower. When he got in front of the mirror he marveled at the softball sized lump on his side. His daughter was right there, so close to the skin that he could almost make out her outline. He gently stroked the mound and felt her respond by squirming slightly. A huge smile broke over his face at her movement. His gaze moved down to the nipples on his wrist. He scowled at what an inconvenient position they were at. After his shower he felt really hungry. Throwing on some pants and the oversized shirt from yesterday he made his way to the mess hall.

"Man, I'm hungry! I fell like I haven't eaten anything for a week! Hey, cook, what do you have for food in there?"

"Some beef stew, a meatloaf, and some chef's salad."

"What about for deserts?"

"Pudding and some ice-cream."

"Give me some stew and ice-cream."

Trip took his food and went to where he saw Hoshi and Travis.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" he asked.

"No, no, by all means." Hoshi said quickly.

He sat down ready to eat his food when he stopped and looked at the two dishes for a minute. Then all of a sudden he took the ice-cream and dumped it on his stew, mixed them together and started eating.

"Mmmmmm." Trip said contentedly.

Hoshi and Travis stared at him with horrified looks on their faces.

"What? What is it?" he asked, confused.

"You put ice-cream on top of your stew, Trip." Hoshi said, obviously disgusted.

He stopped eating and looked at his dish for a moment, shrugged and continued eating.

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A/N: well what did you think?

Should I jump ahead to the next check-up or do some romantic interlude with one of the characters – T'Pol, Hoshi?

Jump ahead to the birth, or in-between installments?

Please tell me. Please!


	4. Dreams and Talepathy Don't Mix

Thank you, thank you, thank you! All of those nice reviews were a very nice relief to the "one review per chapter" I have been experiencing.

Well on with the next chapter of "Emily"!

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A month went by so quickly he thought as he walked quickly to the sick bay. He thought how Hoshi and Travis had helped him build a crib with a rocker built into it, designed by himself, he was quite proud because he wasn't used to making something so mundane. They had forced him not to help; worried that he might hurt himself. He remembered about grumbling about idiotic people who thought that he was made of glass.

"Any concerns?" Doctor Phlox asked.

"I have been feeling a little weak lately, almost dizzy sometimes." He answered

"Hmmm. That worries me; I think that I'll take another full body scan."

Trip hung his head at this. The doctor just laughed as he lay down on the hard examining chair.

A few minutes later the Doctor gasped at the data he had received from scan he had taken from Trip.

"What is it? Is something wrong?" Trip asked anxiously.

"No, no, just surprising. It seems that your daughter has started to absorb your DNA; it seems that she hasn't been getting enough nourishment, so her cells haven't getting enough energy to divide, so it seems she's been _stealing_ from you. Trip, you have to eat better, if you don't this weakness you were talking about will persist, and your daughter will continue to steal genetic material and energy from you."

Trip looked sheepishly at the floor.

"Will she have anything wrong with her?"

"No, but I do expect that she will have some differences about her physical appearance will be different than what it would have been _if you had eaten well from the beginning. I'll see you next month, but stop by if need any help or advice."_

"Um, She's been getting bigger. I was…um… I was wondering how I could hide her better."

"Well, you could leave your room when everyone else is asleep, but if you don't want to do this you could just tell everyone, they will know eventually anyway."

Trip grimaced at this suggestion imaging all of the hidden sniggers in corridors and the blatant laughs in the mess hall.

"NO, I can definitely _not_ do that!"

Phlox just shook his head as Trip left in a rush. 

When he got to his room he continued what he had been doing for the last week as his daughter had started growing faster: sitting around watching water polo and old movies. 

_Look at all of the trouble you've gotten me into Emily! Now I have to start eating _healthy_! He thought angrily._

 Strangely as he thought this he almost felt a sort of sorry sadness in the back of his mind. He dismissed it and continued watching his game. Before he went to bed that night Jon stopped by and watched some water polo with him. Trip told him his problem but the captain simply dismissed his complaints and told him that the doctor was right.

Later that night woke up from a very disturbing dream. In his dream he had been lying on his bed with only a pair of underwear on. He looked down at the lump on his side that was his daughter. It started to glow and he could her outlined perfectly with light then she grew brighter and brighter until she took up all of his vision with a bright light and then he had woken up. As he remembered the dream, his hand wandered to where she was on his side. She squirmed and he felt a flash of happiness as he touched the lump, but it wasn't his happiness, he had long ago grown used to her movement as the space became more and more compact for her. Suddenly he realized that this was the same feeling that he had experienced when he had played that Xyrillian "game" with Ah'len. Was it Emily's happiness, at being touched, that he was feeling? He didn't rule it out as a possibility and spent rest of the night trying to figure it out.

Trip almost ran to the mess hall where he knew Hoshi would be eating breakfast.

"Hoshi!" he yelled, and to his obvious dismay everyone looked at him like he was a raving lunatic as he walked slowly and calmly to his seat next to Hoshi and Travis.

"Hey, Trip, what's with all the yelling?" Asked Hoshi

"I just found out the most amazing thing last night!" He said, "I'm telepathic, with her!"

"Who's 'her', Trip?" Travis asked.

Hoshi pointed discreetly to the side that Trip's daughter was growing.

"Ohhh." Realized Travis.

"How did you figure this non-existent fact, Trip?" Hoshi asked calmly.

"It's true, I swear! It's not words or anything, just emotions but I swear I can feel her in my mind!" he demanded. 

Hoshi stared at him, not looking in the least bit convinced. 

"Trip, first you need to calm down, and then we need to see Dr. Phlox to see if this has any truth beheind it." Hoshi said calmly and carefully.

Trip scowled nastily at her, but complied, just to prove that he was right.

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A/N: this story is so much fun to write, and that fun is intensified with your wonderful reviews!

Next chapter possibilities

Trip visits Hoshi about pregnancy blues.

Hoshi makes T'Pol apologize to trip about the letter she wrote to him.

Trip asks various people to be the godmother/father for his daughter.

He starts to make baby cloths, with frustrating results.


	5. Surprising Apologies

Please enjoy and review! ^-^

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Trip sat on an examining table with an angry glare directed towards Hoshi. 

"Trip, you must know I have almost no experience with neural abnormalities like telepathy, but I think I might know someone that would." Said Dr. Phlox.

"So you won't be able to prove me right?" asked Trip.

Hoshi gave out an exasperated sigh with Trip's question. 

"I give up! Trip there is no way possible that you have a telepathic link with your unborn child! I'm going to leave this madness, I still have to finish breakfast and report to my station, so if you don't mind." Hoshi said as she left the sick bay.

T'Pol walked in about ten seconds after Hoshi had left. Trip was just putting on his shirt and Dr. Phlox was finishing the letter he was writing.

"Hello Tucker," she said stiffly, "Doctor, I need some more nasal inhibitors. I seem to have run out sooner than expected."

Trip glared at her, he still hadn't gotten over the nasty letter she had sent him. T'Pol's eyes lingered at the lump on his side and he thought that he saw her eyes widen, as if she really hadn't fully believed it until now.

"I hadn't been expecting you for another week T'Pol, so it will be just a minute." The doctor said, slightly distracted as he sent the letter.

"No matter, I can wait." she said.

Trip scowled at her nastily as he left.

That night he had an appointment with Hoshi, she volunteered to help him learn how to make better food. Personally he wasn't looking forward to it. He didn't like to cook, normally, but he had decided to duke it out for Emily's sake, but when she was born he was going right back to his old routine! 

Hoshi was sitting in front of him in the abandoned mess hall late that night 

"Trip! Pay attention! According to what you told me you were eating, you need to eat more vegetables and less processed food. I would also suggest that you exercise, at least a little every day."

"People could see me!" He protested.

"Yes, they could. All the more reason you should tell the rest of the crew." She scolded.

"Hoshi I'm not going to tell them that I'm the first man ever pregnant and have a hundred plus people laugh at me!"

"Trip they won't laugh at you. Not everyone is as mean as T'Pol."

"T'Pol? She didn't laugh at me."

"No, but she certainly did insult you! You need to tell her off, or I will!"

Trip sighed and shook his head. He closed his eyes and reached out to Emily. He sent emotions of apology and forgiveness, and pictures of T'Pol. All he got back was an annoyingly vague happiness. 

_Well that was stupid, Trip, you really think that a one and a half month old fetus is going to be any help to you._ He thought angrily at himself.

Hoshi was a lot of help with cloths as well. Sense Trip couldn't sew to save his life, Hoshi offered to sew some outfits for him.

"Bye, Hosh. I'll see you tomorrow, and I'll try to eat better, I promise. Scout's honor."

She smiled sweetly at him as he left for his room.

In his room he saw that he had gotten some new mail. _I wonder what she wants now. He thought angrily as he saw that it was a letter from T'Pol._

_Tucker-_

_Ensign Sato told me that you were angry at my previous letter, but I was surprised when you didn't say so in sick bay. I did not intend to insult you; I simply told what I considered as the truth. But I will try to be more sympathetic to your current situation in the future. _

_T'Pol_

_P.S. If you need any _advice_, I am available._

Trip couldn't believe it. T'Pol actually apologized, to him. He was certainly perplexed and couldn't sleep because all he could think about was T'Pol.

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A/N: My deepest apologies to any one opposed to a Trip/T'Pol romance, because it is quite obvious what my intentions are now.

Next Chapter Suggestions (Please say which ones you would of wouldn't like to see happen)

Jon forces Trip to tell the crew about his "condition".

Trip starts to have ravenous feeding crazes.

Dr. Phlox shows that Trip is actually right about the Telepathy thing.

More rocky Trip/T'Pol romancy stuff.


	6. Sad Revalations

Read and Enjoy! ^-^ 

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Another month had gone by slowly for Trip. He found it harder and harder to get around the ship both physically and without running into people on the ship. She was about the size of a large misshapen beach-ball, and weighed about eight pounds, so he felt very lopsided. Whenever he ran into a person in the hall or mess hall they would look wearily at him and make quick, curious glances at his side. Every time this happened to him he sighed exasperatedly once they had left. Jon and Hoshi kept on bugging him to tell the rest of the crew, and to his despair he was slowly starting to agree with them that it would be less confusing and tiring. He walked slower as her started getting closer to the sickbay, he had started getting more and more anxious after the "one month to go" landmark had been passed and he had started to wish that he had never set foot on that Xyrillian ship.

"Ah, Commander Tucker, you came finally." Said the doctor cheerfully.

"Trip! I didn't' know you were coming here today, the doctor was just giving me some cold medicine, I seem to have come under the weather." Said the last voice on earth Trip wanted to here just then.

"Hey, cap." He said drearily.

Trip walked over to the examining table opposite of the doctor and the captain and started to slowly remove his shirt.

"Good. She seems to have been growing quite nicely this last month."

"Hey Trip, have you thought about my suggestion about the rest of the crew?"

"Yes I have, and I think that I'll let the rest of the crew know about her, but I won't be the one doing the telling. You have to do it, the crew would probably think that it was a practical joke or something, if I told them." Said Trip.

"Good!" said the captain cheerfully, "I'll tell them at dinner, say… Trip would you like to have dinner with me and Hoshi tonight?"

Still sad, Trip thought this might cheer him up, so he agreed to see him and Hoshi that night.

His appointment with Phlox actually went pretty fast and he left for his room once it was over. When Trip got to his room he started researching babies, which was what he had been doing for the last week – nonstop. A couple hours later he went to the mess hall to eat. He ate very light opposed to what he had been eating the last few weeks. He tried to ignore the fact that e was becoming more and more depressed as the "big day" approached. Everyone was so excited that a baby was going to be born they sort of seemed to ignore his feelings. _I'm probably just imagining things though._ He chided himself. He walked slowly back to his room – he felt that that was what he had been doing for the last few months. Dodging people as he made his way back to his room, always back to his room, never anywhere else. He surprised himself as he burst into tears in the middle of the hallway. He didn't want to go back there – it was too depressing. He wracked his brain of who could help him, not Jon - he was an ageing bachelor, not Hoshi – she reminded him too much of his mother. Then as if a light had gone off in his head he thought of a name he didn't think he would ever ask for help – T'Pol. She was a Vulcan; maybe she could help him calm his raging emotions.

It took him about ten minutes to find her room. When he got there he knocked tentatively on her door.

"Yes? Who's there?"

"It's…it's me, Tucker. C-can I c-come in?" He said, his voice cracking on the thickness in his throat.

"Yes." She said.

Trip tried and failed to wipe the redness of his eyes away that would betray that he had been crying.

"What do you need?" she asked as he stepped into her room.

"I-I've been feeling worse and worse the closer that it gets closer to when she's born. I just feel like nobody cares about me and then it gets worse and worse until I'm crying my eyes out." He said feeling fresh tears run down his cheeks. 

She stared at him for a very long time before she took his hands with hers and kissed his palms sweetly. He stared perplexed at her, even more confused than when he had walked in. Here was a Vulcan, a woman who wasn't supposed to have an emotion in her entire body, expressing the exact amount of love and caring that he needed. At that moment he felt the most loved that he had in a long time. He stared blank-faced at her when she looked back at him. He thought he could almost hear what he thought she might be thinking that moment – _I care, Trip._

They stayed like that for a while before he got up to go to dinner with the captain and Hoshi, but as he walked back to his room he didn't feel like he was walking back to his room, he felt as if he was leaving T'Pol's room. That thought brought a nice, small, secret smile to his lips.

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A/N: Wheee! This chapter was fun! They (Trip/T'Pol) seem to be advancing quite slow and nice. 

Next Chapter Suggestions

BIRTH!

Godparents assigned

Trip gets used to being a Mom/Dad (I don't really know what to call a person in his position)

More Trip/T'Pol goodness!


	7. Baby Shower!

Read and Enjoy!

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Trip was sitting in the captain's dining room quite content. He was back into a generally happy mood from what T'Pol had "told" him. 

"So, Trip, I see you haven't stopped craving strange food yet." Said Jon, breaking Trip's concentration on the earlier events of that evening.

"Wha… oh yea – heh heh." Said Trip as he looked down at his plate of pasta with pickles. 

Trip thought to the question he had thought of while he was getting ready for dinner. He wanted to ask Hoshi and Jon to be her Godparents. He had no idea how to ask someone this question, but he thought he should get it out of the way before she was born.

"Jon, Hoshi, I was wondering if I could ask you two a question?" Trip asked shakily.

"What is it Trip?" asked Hoshi.

"Would you be the Godparents of my daughter?"

They were silent for a minute, then, just as Trip had suspected, they broke into huge smiles and were saying things like "of course", and "it would be an honor". 

_I sure am glad I got that out of the way!_ Trip thought jovially.

Later that night when Hoshi had left, Jon got up and made the dreaded announcement over the com. 

"Hello, this Captain Jonathan Archer speaking and I have some news about one of the crew."

Trip visibly winced at this statement.

"A couple months ago we ran into an alien ship, they needed repairs and we helped them. Our own chief engineer, Commander Charles Tucker, went over to help them."

Trip could not believe he was hearing this. The captain was making it sound as if he had died.

"While he was there one of their engineers invited him to play one of their games with them. She accidentally impregnated him."

_Oh my good god,_ thought Trip,_ he actually said it. He made it sound like I was raped! Note to self: never let Jon explain anything discreet ever again!_

"This is a very personal matter to Commander Tucker, so if you have any questions to ask him, don't, and as for the matter of gossip, don't. Commander Tucker's child will be born within the month so all questions should be cleared up then.

"Well, that wasn't so hard, was it now." Said the captain, as he turned to a greatly embarrassed Trip.

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A week had gone by when Trip started to hear whispers about a baby shower. He first caught Hoshi in her room wrapping two fluffy looking items after she had come back from shore leave at a human based space station. Then he had over heard Travis and Jon talking about when it would happen. Then once again he saw Malcolm in the armory working on these strange little transmitter things. He was getting more and more suspicious everyday that people were planning a surprise baby shower.

Then the truth was known one day as he walked into the mess hall for lunch.

"Surprise!" yelled everyone simultaneously (even T'Pol, he remarked to himself).

Trip was very surprised at the whole event, even though he knew it had been coming. He got a gift from everyone.

Later that night he really got to get a good look at all the presents because he didn't really get to look at all of them really closely. 

The first gift was from Jon. He had given him a mobile for above the crib. It had cute little spaceships and stars all around it. Trip smiled at this gift because he really had wanted a mobile to make the crib seem less bare.

Phlox had given him clothes which he knew she needed but had yet to buy any.

Hoshi' gift had a note attached to it.

_Trip –_

_I found this in a cute little shop at that space station a couple days ago. They were so cute I couldn't resist. I hope you like them!_

_- Hoshi_

_P.S. the guy at the store said the bunny is actually a real animal some where_

She had given him a girl's gift – stuffed animals. One was a little tiger sitting; it was quite small compared to the other one. It was a slightly large black bunny and it looked normal enough except it had weird furry wings and small devilish looking horns coming out of its head. Trip laughed to think that an animal that silly looking could actually be real somewhere.

His next gift was from Travis, he had attached a note to his gift as well.

_Trip –_

_I got this at the same shop as Hoshi – she dragged me along, I had no choice. Hoshi said it was scary but I thought it was pretty funny._

_- Travis_

He had given Trip a little pacifier. But on the back was a little drawn picture of a Klingon grinning. The artist of the little picture had stylized the features so much that the normally scary picture of a smiling Klingon was toned down so it actually looked funny.

Malcolm had given Trip a quite complicated, but useful, gift. He had given Trip a portable com that had been tweaked to be able to become a baby monitor as well. Trip laughed at his stupidity of overlooking the fact that he needed one of those.

He slowed at T'Pol's gift. She had also put a note on her gift.

_Mr. Tucker –_

_I thought that your daughter would like a blanket to keep her warm. I think that you will like this gift. The words on the corner of the blanket are a Vulcan lullaby. If you wish I could give you it translated into English._

_- T'Pol_

Trip smiled at the nice letter as he turned to the gift itself. It was a relatively large blanket knitted, with some sort of very soft yarn, to look somewhat like swirling pink and blue nebula. The words in the corner were embroidered in silver thread and took up about an eighth of the whole blanket.

"Well, babe, what do you think of all of your gifts?" Trip said absently to his daughter, letting his hand rest on the growing bulge.

Her only response was to send a feeling of contentment and kick against her father's hand.

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A/N: This chapter was fun, but it was hard to come up with all of the gifts.

Next Chapter Suggestions

BIRTH!

T'Pol sends him the translated lullaby

Everyone visits him while he's recovering

He reveals her **full** name to every one.


	8. Birth!

Please read and enjoy! 

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Trip woke up in the middle of the night because _she had started to play soccer with his ribs. He got up wearily and slowly. Carefully putting his clothes on before he staggered the long weary way to sickbay. _

"Phlox, something's wrong…" he said before he collapsed onto the sickbay floor, attempting to shield Emily from the blow.

He woke once before he woke fully. All he saw was Phlox turn away with a small bawling bundle before he sadly fell back into unconsciousness.

"Trip, wake up!" said Hoshi earnestly as she attempted to shake Trip awake.

Trip slowly woke up and knew she was gone before he felt the large gap beside him.

"Where is she!?" he shouted, wincing as he finally noticed the bandages wrapped around his side.

Trip heard an infant crying on the other side of the sickbay and told Hoshi to bring her to him. Hoshi, being courteously nice, walked over to a small crib that had a misty tent over it. She reached inside and pulled out a very upset, loud, small bundle.

Trip impatiently reached out his hands for his small daughter. 

Hoshi placed her gently into his arms and he looked down at her face.

He looked at her bawling face and instantly fell in love. She was everything and more than he had hoped for. She had the scaly skin of the Xyrillians but it was less moist and scaly than he had remembered. Her skin was also lighter than what he remembered, and it looked almost tan. The ridges he remembered on the Xyrillians were less pronounced on her as well.

"She's beautiful…" he whispered softly.

She immediately stopped crying at the sound of her father's voice and started reaching for his opposite wrist. He awkwardly brought it closer to her and she avidly attached to it, sucking greedily.

"Ah, I see you are finally awake, and acquainted with our new crewmember," Said Dr. Phlox cheerfully, "Now I have some news about some of her physiological systems."

Trip looked up from gazing at his daughter's face.

"News? What kind of news?" he asked worriedly.

"Oh, nothing that major, just that her entire digestive and reproductive systems are completely human, but her respiratory system is mostly Xyrillian, that's why I had her in that tent filled with steam."

"Is it anything that serious? Will she be okay?" Trip asked, worry building in his voice.

"No, no, she just has some trouble rehydrating her lungs. Everything will be fine if you keep her in that tent until she is about a month old. Just until her lungs have gotten used to the air in here."

Trip looked at his daughter lovingly as she let go of his wrist and drifted off to sleep. He gently got up and walked over to her crib and set her down in the mist filled bed. 

"Hey doc, why'd you have to cut me open so much?" he asked as he made his way over to the cot he had been sleeping on.

"Well, I had just made a small incision but then you wouldn't stop bleeding – it seemed that you grew a pretty big artery while you were pregnant. So, I had to bandage you up pretty tight, but most of that bandaging is just for show. "Said the doctor with a smile on his face.

Trip stared at him flabbergasted. He could have died at the hands of that crazy smiling doctor. He would kill him! But first he needed to sleep.

Trip was softly awoken a few hours later by the soft crooning voice of a woman. At first he thought it was Hoshi but he knew from experience that she couldn't sing to save her soul. He listened a little more to the sweet soprano voice to find that she was singing in Vulcan! The only other person on the entire ship that knew how to speak, much less sing, Vulcan was T'Pol. He lifted his head up to see her. She was holding Emily close to her face, slightly rocking, and singing. 

"What are doing?" he asked softly.

"Oh, Commander Tucker, I see that you are awake." She said, barely fazed at Trip catching her singing, quite emotionally, to his infant daughter. "She started crying when I arrived with the translated version of that lullaby you wanted. I didn't want her to wake you so I comforted her."

Trip nodded his thanks as she set the baby back in her crib, just in time for the rest of his friends to arrive. All of them gave him a hug (except Malcolm, who shook his hand firmly) before settling down to various seats.

"So, Trip, What's her name?" asked Jon curiously.

"I thought about that one long and hard, but I finally decided to name her Emily Ah'len Tucker." He said.

Travis grinned at Trip, thankful for him using his suggestion and the hilarious nick name that would accompany the little girl.

"Ah'len? Where did you get that name from?" asked Hoshi.

Trip didn't want to say that she was the Xyrillian who gave him Emily. He lowered his eyes and tried to subtly tell Hoshi by glancing at Emily's crib. Much to Trip's embarrassment she gasped and covered her mouth in apology. 

A couple days later he was allowed to move back to his room with Emily. He greatly relished the idea of being able to wear clingy shirts, opposed to the loose suit shirts he had been wearing the last four months.

"Well, this is Home Emmy." He said cheerfully to his little daughter

He glanced at his mail and found the translated version of the lullaby on the corner of the blanket that she was sleeping under currently. 

Trip smiled at her as he started to read the lullaby.

"Lets see… 'Lullaby of Luck: As the sun sets, as the sun rises, all of the children of Vulcan lay down to sleep, rise up to wake, to meet their undiscovered day, some to work, some to play, and some to wonder away the day. Luck, Luck, foolish luck, lucky are the children, who wonder away the day, with out an ounce of regret of wasting a useful day'"

Trip smiled at the cute little song wondering what the tune was.

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A/N: hey I know that song was really corny, but it was all I could think of for the time being.

Thank you everyone who gave me nice and generous reviews!

Next Chapter Suggestions

Skip ahead a couple years

Skip ahead a couple months

(Obviously one or the other)

More romance between Trip and T'Pol

Some super tentions between T'Pol and Trip – read to find out!

Trip becomes foolishly over-protective of Emily

Emily is almost like the ship's mascot – much to Trip's dismay


	9. Silly T'Pol

Sorry about the beginning! (It's really corny)

Well anyway, thanks for all the nice reviews.

Please enjoy and review!

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Trip wrung his hands as his three and a half month old daughter was closely inspected by Dr. Phlox. 

"Is anything wrong?!" he asked anxiously as Phlox let out a soft "hmm..."

"No, and if you keep hovering like that I will have to sedate you. Really Trip, I wouldn't think that you would be this stressed after being a parent for over three months." He scolded Trip.

Trip scowled at him and went to sit across from the doctor as he took various measurements.

Emily giggled loudly as she saw T'Pol enter the sickbay, and started reaching for her desperately as she walked towards the doctor.

"Hello, doctor, I seem to have eaten something bad, and I need something for my stomach." Said the Vulcan, who smiled with her eyes at the infant, as her face stayed placid.

Trip had discovered slowly through research and the few meetings that he had had with her, that Vulcans seemed to be more _lenient with logic around young children._

"Good news, Trip, she is in tip top condition." Said the doctor as he went to find some stomach medicine for T'Pol.

Trip scooped up Emily, without a word to T'Pol, and left to go speak to the captain.

Jon had suggested that he start his duties as soon as Phlox had said it was alright for him to leave Emily with other people. Trip was greatly dreading this because she was maturing faster than his research had said she would, so she was more than ready to be passed off to someone else. 

Trip knocked on Jon's door. The door was quickly opened by his friend and Trip stepped inside. Trip sat down on Jon's sofa and settled Emily on his lap.

"So what did Phlox say?" asked Jon eagerly.

"He said it was fine…" Trip said slowly, but quickly said, "But I don't think I should leave her alone with a stranger yet she still has breathing trouble sometimes and she gets hungry so easily, I don't really think I should abandon her just yet."

"Trip, it'll be fine. You don't have to work for long periods yet, plus Hoshi and I are more than happy to baby-sit her." Said the captain, clearly exasperated by Trip's excuses.

"That's what worries me! You and Hoshi have been great but you aren't exactly experienced when it comes to babies." Scolded Trip.

 Just then there was a quiet knock on the door. 

"Come in!" shouted the captain.

T'Pol lifted her face as she walked in the door holding a small data pad.

"Oh, Captain, I didn't know you had company. I will return later."

"No, no, that's alright. Trip and I were just talking about babysitters. Do you have any experience?"

Trip glared daggers at his friend as T'Pol thought the question over.

"Well, I have cared for my nephew a number of times." She said, standing stiffly by the door.

Jon smiled suggestively at Trip who groaned in distress at the suggestion. He barely knew T'Pol! How could he trust her with his three month old daughter?! But he knew that she loved it with her and that T'Pol had enough sense to know what to do.

"Oh alright! But call me right away if anything at _all_ happens." Said Trip.

He told her to meet him later that night in his room to go over specifics. 

Trip had just put Emily to sleep when he heard the knock on his door. He quietly went over and opened the door. He motioned to T'Pol to be quiet pointing to the cradle. She nodded and quietly walked over to sit on his bed. Trip went to pull his shoes on and motioned her to come back out into the hallway with him. He secured a small comm. onto the side of his jeans.

"She fell asleep sooner than I thought she would so I guess we'll have to talk in your quarters." Explained Trip as he kneeled down to tie his shoes.

"That is acceptable. Follow me." She said curtly.

Trip sat down in a chair when they got to T'Pol's room.

"I wrote some things down for you." He said as he handed her a data pad.

She took it without speaking and glanced over it. After a while she handed it back to him.

"It isn't too complicated, is it?" he asked.

"No, Mr. Tucker, it is perfectly clear what you want me to do with our daughter." She said sharply.

"Our…" Trip echoed.

He saw her eyes widen at realizing what she had said. 

"You must have misheard me, Mr. Tucker, I distinctly said 'your' daughter." She quickly corrected herself.

"Oh… all right. Well just come by around 0900 tomorrow morning, if that's alright with you." He said shakily.

"That is perfectly acceptable with me. I will see you tomorrow at 0900." She said before showing him the door.

When Trip got back to his room all he could hear running through his mind was, "our daughter". What he didn't know is at that very moment T'Pol was sitting shakily on her bed imagining the look on Trip's face when she had given her true feelings about him and Emily.

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A/N: o_O… Silly sloppy T'Pol, you let yourself be seen! 

Is T'Pol being too emotional, I'm not sure because I've read that Vulcans aren't supposed to be as logical as Vulcans from later series, but I don't know.

Next Chapter Suggestions

**_ANYTHING YOU CAN THINK OF!_**


	10. Sick!

I'm sorry that I haven't updated in so long but I was really busy with school work and such, plus I couldn't think of anything good to write

Lots of hugs and kisses to all of my super nice reviewers and the non-existent flamers!

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Trip awoke with a start. He could sense that something was wrong in the small room. He fearfully listened for the breathing of his six month old daughter. Fear struck him as he heard her forced breath coming slower and slower. He leaped out of his bed and scooped her small form into his arms. He carefully wrapped her up and ran as fast as he could to sick bay. 

He knocked rapidly on the door yelling for Phlox to open the door. 

The doctor hurriedly came and opened the door for Trip.

"Trip, Trip, what's the matter? You should be asleep." Asked Phlox, confused. 

"Emmy's sick! Help!" yelled Trip, all of his thoughts on his sick daughter.

Phlox quickly took the wheezing baby from her father's arms. He laid the little girl down on a cot and ran his tricorder over her.

"It seems that she has a cold. Her body shouldn't be reacting to the virus like this because of your genes, but it seems to have centralized on her delicate respiratory system." Explained the doctor. 

"Don't just stand there and tell me what's wrong! Help her!" yelled Trip frantically, as he gripped Phlox's collar.  

Trip felt a hypo-spray depress on his neck before collapsing into a dreamless sleep.

T'Pol had been on her way to Trip's quarters so she could take care of Emily for him. She had to pass by the sickbay to get there and saw Trip yelling at Dr. Phlox. She quickly walked in and grabbed a hypo-spray to sedate him with. She quickly injected him and watched him fall to the ground.

"Thank you T'Pol, but it wasn't necessary." Said the doctor calmly, as he straightened his collar.

She said nothing as she glanced around the room. She froze when she saw the doctor rush over to small struggling form. 

The doctor picked up the whimpering baby and started comforting her as he put her on the examining table. As the bed retracted into the body scanner he rushed over to one of his animals, a cat-looking thing, and started extracting its saliva. He set that aside when the stats appeared on the screen outside the capsule.

"Oh…my…" said Phlox as he looked at the screen. All of a sudden he started to work even faster, first finishing with the cat thing, then putting Emily in an incubator.

"Doctor, is there anything I can do to help?" asked T'Pol in a businesslike way.

"Oh!" exclaimed the doctor, as if he had forgotten she was there, then said, "Ah, nothing with Emily, but you could put Mr. Tucker on a bed so I don't trip over him."

The Vulcan nodded and picked up the unconscious engineer. She laid him on a cot before the doctor could trip over him.

She took off his shoes before getting a blanket for him. When she returned he seemed to be having a nightmare.

"Emma…Emmy! …No! ... Not her… t-take me…" he murmured, his brow furrowed at the awful thoughts. 

She stared at him before taking his hand and stroking it. His whimpers silenced at the touch. She sat down with her hand still in his.

T'Pol woke up next to Tucker's cot, uninhabited. She quickly glanced around and saw him staring at the incubator that held his daughter. Two IVs were attached to her arms. One of the IV's held a bright blue liquid, while the other held a clear fluid. As she got closer she saw that the baby had a respirator on as well. 

Trip was startled when T'Pol came to stand next to him. He had been crying and he hopelessly tried to hide it. 

"Thanks for stopping me." he said, his voice cracking.

"You seemed quite intent on harming the doctor. But I suppose you had a good reason?" she said softly.

"He wasn't helping." 

"He is now." She said flatly.

They stayed like that for a while longer before he said: "Thanks for staying with me."

She said nothing as they listened to the quiet in and out of the respirator. 

Trip all of a sudden leaned forward in his chair and she could hear him sobbing. She took a step forward and was taken by surprise as he turned around in his chair, hugging her middle.

"Oh god, T'Pol! She could die! It's all my fault!" he sobbed as he desperately hung onto her. 

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A/N: o_O cliffie, sorta. Well, I obviously took soaltoast's suggestion – thank you for that any way.

Tell me if I'm doing well or bad or whatever. 

Thank you to all of my faithful reviewers!!!


	11. Unsaid Confessions

Yay! New chapter only a couple of days after the old one!

Thank you for all of the happy nice reviews! They make me happy!

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"Oh god, T'Pol! She could die! It's all my fault!" he sobbed as he desperately hung onto her.

She stood there, unsure what to do. All she wanted to was unclasp his hands and leave, but a little part of her wanted to stand there, put her hands on his head and tell him that everything would be alright.

She struggled with herself as her hands rested on his head.

"Shhh, shhh. It will all turn out alright." She quietly comforted.

She felt Trip loosen his grip on her and pull away. He looked very confused. 

"I-I'm sorry, Trip. That was a mistake. I-I have to go." She said, stumbling towards the door.

A couple days later Emily's condition had stabilized enough that Phlox was very sure that she would live. Trip had gotten lots of support from his friends and was feeling much better than when T'Pol had left the previous morning.

T'Pol, Trip was getting more and more confused by T'Pol. She kept expressing such kind emotions, just to deny them the next second. He wanted to talk to her, but he didn't want to leave Emily, incase something went wrong. He tried to figure it out but he got frustrated just thinking about her.

"Damn it, T'Pol! Why the hell do you have to be so confusing!?" he yelled to himself.

He heard the baby next to him whimper quietly.

He quickly picked her up. He pulled back his sleeve to reveal two slowly fading nipples and put them up to her mouth. To his delight she started to drink.

"I see that she has started eating again." Said a woman's voice.

"T'Pol!" said the engineer, "You surprised me!"

He thought he saw her blush before she pulled up a chair for herself next to him.

"Trip I need to talk to you about something." She said as she sad down.

"What is it?" he asked as he detached himself from the baby before he laid her back in the incubator.

She looked down, as if she was looking for the right words to say.

"Mr. Tucker… I…" she stopped before saying: "I am sure that your daughter gets well soon" with that she got up to leave.

"Wait just a minute! That was definitely not what you were going to day." He said, grabbing her by the arm.

She looked down at his hand in disgust and yanked her arm out of his grip.

"Mr. Tucker," she said in the coldest voice Trip had ever heard, "you have no idea what I was going to say, so I would assume that you have no authority saying that."

Trip looked stunned as she calmly left the sickbay.

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A/N: short I know, but it was so soon after ch. 10, so I figure I can make it up to you with a nice long one later.

**Next Chapter Suggestions**

Trip makes up with T'Pol

Emily gets 100% better

Emily starts to wreak havoc on the shi cuz she can crawl

T'Pol log entry


	12. Intense Flirting

Wheeeeeeee! New chapter! This is even more exiting for me than it is for you!

This chap. isn't quite rated R, but there is some pretty intense flirting on T'Pol's part, so if you are easily embarrassed, don't like, or aren't allowed then don't read!

+ sorry for another short chapter. I was going to make it longer, but I didn't' want to drag it on unnecessarily. 

Yayness!

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Trip was awakened by a baby's loud healthy cry.

He looked up from his uncomfortable position on his chair and saw Emily thrashing her arms and legs around inside of the incubator.

"Phlox!" he yelled.

"No need to shout, Trip, I right here. She woke up about five minutes ago. I was just about to wake you when she started crying." Explained the doctor.

Trip watched excitedly, wincing when the doctor removed her IV's, as Phlox took her out of the incubator.

"Here's some cough medicine if she starts to cough." Warned the doctor. "Her lungs have been severely weakened by this, so come to me if she has any trouble at all breathing or coughing." 

Trip only nodded before he left for his room.

Earlier that morning a certain Vulcan was attempting to meditate in her room.

T'Pol sighed and fell back as she gave up on another useless hour of meditation. She didn't understand it, usually she could focus just fine, but that damn Tucker kept on hovering right in front of her with that cool and easy smile every time she closed her eyes.

She decided to resort to an unconventional activity that she had been using more and more to relax and review her day: a log. 

She sat down at her computer and opened the encrypted file.

"Log entry: 100452a. File number: 201891627513j." she said swiftly.

She had used a very simple system, using earth's calendar and alphabet to show what she was talking about and when.

The computer swiftly opened a new document and gave her the choice of typing or talking. She chose to type, finding that it was infinitely more private.

_April 10, 2152___

_Trip is becoming less and less rational. He is making me…different. I can't tell what he is doing to me. It reminds me of something, a place perhaps, but I can't place it. _

_Emily is also changing me. I was always taught to use logic in all aspects of life, but to be patient with children, even when they are being most illogical. I am being lenient with her, but sometimes I think that I am too lenient with her. I still think that Trip will bring up that night when I mentioned her as "ours", but he hasn't._

She stopped, unable to think of anything more to write. She felt her eyes starting to close from exhaustion and she saw his smiling face. Her heart stopped, her breathing hitched, just the sight of his face changed all of her thoughts to how sweet, kind, funny, and wonderful he was.

She opened her eyes and forced herself to calm the foolish desires inside.

~_maybe I should write him a letter…_~ she absently thought to herself, but quickly pushed it out of her mind before it could actually form into a solid thought.

Later that day Trip walked slowly to T'Pol's quarters bent on apologizing to her. 

He was going over what he would say to her because the last thing he needed was for T'Pol to be even madder at him.

When he knocked on her door she answered in only underwear and a very short and thin camisole.

"Yes, Mr. Tucker, what do you want?" she asked coldly.

He stood there, frozen by her scantily clad form.

"Ah… I-I…" he stammered, before a well placed sigh on T'Pol's part snapped him out of his stupor. "I wanted to apologize for yesterday. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions like that. Sorry."

She simply looked at him funny and shut her door with out even so much as a thank you.

"'You're welcome Mr. Tucker', 'thank you so much for apologizing, Mr. Tucker'" he imitated, "She could have at least acknowledged that I was there!"

With that he stormed off to his room.

**~T'Pol's POV~**

She didn't bother to change when she heard the knock on her door, not expecting _him_ to be on the other side.

"Yes, Mr. Tucker, what do you want?" she asked coldly, vainly attempting to keep the butterflies in her stomach at bay.

He just stood there, obviously staring at her breasts. 

_Really Trip, is shame so overrated that you seem to find that you need none?_ She thought to herself as she let out an exasperated sigh.

"I wanted to apologize for yesterday. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions like that. Sorry." He let out as a long uninterrupted string of words.

T'Pol gazed at him, trying to figure out if the warm fuzzy feeling in her stomach was physical or emotional. She shut the door quickly before her mind could decide, her heart beating a mile a minute. 

She kicked herself mentally as she heard Trip imitating her spitefully in the hall before he quickly walked back to his room.

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A/N: O_o Romantic advancement! The next chapter will definitely be less risqué. Perhaps I will use soaltoast's Porthos/Emily become friends idea next.

This chapter was really fun to write!

**Next Chapter Suggestions**

Emily + Porthos become friends

More Trip/T'Pol (definitely will be G rated if there is any)

Other couple romances (give me some ideas on couples please, cuz I've got a lot of ideas, but I don't know which one to pick)


	13. Interlude

Just a happy little interlude to make the next chapter make more sense

The next couple chapters will definitely be much longer.

Enjoy and review!

Happy!

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T'Pol had been helping Trip with Emily for over four months when he invited her for dinner.

"T'Pol," he had said the day before, "you always eat alone, you know that eating alone is bad for digestion. You should eat with me and Emmy tomorrow. I won't take no for an answer!"

She remembered saying, "Mr. Tucker, I don't like to eat with others, usually, but sense I have gotten to know you, I believe that eating with you and your daughter would be acceptable."

She remembers him grinning that big grin of his before rushing back to his room to prepare.

She arrived at the Captain's dining room (Jon had let Trip borrow it for the special occasion) at 1800 the next evening just as Trip was putting their food on the table. 

"Be just a minute T'Pol, Em was being a little fussy."

She said nothing but just sat down at her seat.

The dinner itself was quite uneventful, almost awkward. But she had to help Trip back to his room because he drank and talked a little too much, fault of his vain attempts to loosen her up.

"Mr. Tucker, are you sure you'll be alright? You are quite intoxicated." T'Pol said.

"Naw, naw. I'm not insoshikated, Polly! I'm fine!" He shouted drunkenly.

She helped him open the door finding Hoshi cradling a sleeping Emily.

 "Mr. Tucker, my name is not 'Polly'." She told him curtly, "Ms. Sato, please help me put him on his bed?"

Hoshi quickly complied, giggling at his semi-drunk antics.

Emmy started to cry reaching for her semi-drunken father.

"We better do what the baby says." Hoshi said, jokingly.

She put the baby next to her equally infant-like father.

"Bye, see you tomorrow T'Pol." Said Hoshi as she left the small room.

Trip lay asleep, Emily curled next to him. They looked so innocent. T'Pol couldn't' help but smile weakly at them. 

She leaned down and kissed Emmy's head. The baby squirmed, before she snuggled closer to her father. 

T'Pol looked next over to Trip, the man she was trying so hard not to love. She felt herself lean lower and plant a tender kiss on his lips. He didn't move when she stepped back and actually looked rather stiff, but as she stepped out the door she heard a single word uttered from his lips.

_T'Pol._

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A/N: HEE! KISS! That was a bold one on T'Pol! Also I've decided on the other couple (no it is not Malcolm and Hoshi! Re my review to get my opinion on that evil pair!), but I'm going to keep it a secret until the next chap.

Tell me what you think!

**Next Chapter Suggestions**

More Trip T'Pol

Mystery couple

Bad things happen to Trip and Emily! (secret!)

T'Pol confesses to Hoshi abt. Trip


	14. Author's Note

Hello peoples!

Here is a happy little note about the next time I will update

Since I am busy with homework and finals I probably won't update until winter break (dec 20 and on)

In sincerely apoligise to people on my opinion on a Hoshi/Malcolm pairing, but to me it is 100% blasphemous. Just to make you feel better my dad thinks that a Trip/T'Pol pairing the worst thing on the face of the planate, so I thik that people are allowed to have at least one crazyness about them.

No body: no it is not "wrong" for Hoshi and Jon to be together, they're only like a 5 year diff. so I think that's nothing to gripe about.

PLUS! THANK YOU SOOOOOO MUCH TO ALL OF THE HAPPY/NICE PEOPLE WHO LIKE MY STORY AND GIVE ME HELPFUL ADVICE!

Ok I'm done.

I'll update soon! I promise!

^-^


	15. Orders

I'm really sorry I haven't updated in forever, but I have been realy busy with school and stuff. But I hope this nice long Chapter will help you forgive me.

Ok… here is a rant to all of the rude/crazy/wrong people who think that Archer is, like, 50 years older than Hoshi.

Jon can't be older than 45 and Hoshi can't be younger than 29 – so that would only make a 16 year diff. which isn't a lot for people their age! So there! 

Well any way… here is nice plot-changing chappie 14.

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Jon was sitting in his room, quite bored, when he received the letter from Admiral Forrest.

"Damn. I was expecting this." He said with a sigh when he read it. 

He called Trip's room, "Trip, come to my quarters as soon as possible." He said, his voice heavy with sadness at what he had to do.

"What's the matter, Jon?" Trip asked.

"Just get here, we need to talk."

Ten minutes later Trip arrived at Jon's quarters.

"What's the matter?" trip asked as he juggled a squirming Emmy.

"Sit down, Trip. The Admiral sent me a letter. I told him about Emily."

Trip froze, anticipating what was coming next.

"He told me… Here, just read it yourself." Jon said as he handed the data pad containing the letter to Trip.

_To: Captain Jonathon Archer_

_Captain, after the news I received from you recently, I have been forced to order you back to Earth as it is impractical to have and raise a child on a starship. _

_From: Admiral Jack Forrest_

Trip stared at the letter, flabbergasted.

"Jon, they can't do this! Everything she knows is this ship! All of our friends are here! We can't just pack up our life and leave!" 

"Now Trip, I know what you're saying, but these are orders. It will take us at least two weeks to get back to earth. You've got plenty of time to tell every one." Said Jon with a heavy heart.

"Oh, so you aren't going to tell the whole fucking ship that we're being booted out of here, just like you did when I was with Emmy!?" Trip shouted back.

Jon looked down at the floor, ashamed.

Trip just scowled at his friend for trying to make him feel guilty, picked up his 11 month old daughter, and stormed out of the room.

That night when T'Pol arrived to watch Emily, Trip told her that he and Emily had been ordered to leave the ship as he was stepping out the door. He didn't stop to hear what she had to say.

Unknown to T'Pol, Trip knew she had kissed him. At least he was pretty sure she had kissed him. He couldn't remember if it was a dream or a memory. He was still running the last night over in his mind when he got to engineering.

"Commander!" yelled a young ensign when he stepped though the door. "Is it really true that you have to leave!?"

T'Pol stood rooted in place when she heard the news of Trip's departure. She felt as if her heart had stopped and the bottom of her stomach had dropped out. 

They were going to be gone. 

Forever.

The irrational side of her brain was yelling at her to tell him, or break down crying like a spoiled little human girl. But the logical part of her brain was futilely telling her to turn a blind eye to the whole situation.  

Her quickly surfacing emotions won, and she fell to her knees sobbing before a very surprised Hoshi.

"T'Pol! Are you alright?" asked a concerned Hoshi as she ran to T'Pol's side.

T'Pol futally attempted to wipe the tears from her face and look relatively normal.

"I am fine, Miss. Sato," said T'Pol, partially regaining her previous calm state, "there is no need to be alarmed."

"Bullshit." Said Hoshi, thoroughly surprising T'Pol, "There is no way that I'm going to believe that every thing is all right! Tell me what upset you enough to make you cry like that!"

T'Pol was shocked by Hoshi's forcefulness. She was so overwhelmed, by Trip leaving and Hoshi being so forward, that she bowed her head and softly said: "It's Trip. He's being forced to leave."

"Commander, is it true? Do you really have to leave?" Asked the concerned ensign again. 

All of engineering stopped at that young girl's words. Trip could feel a hundred eyes on him as they waited for him to answer. 

Trip stood there motionless, unsure of what to say. He could feel all of their eyes on him, waiting for him to talk.

"Um… Well the truth is…" he slowly said, "Yes. I am being forced to leave… we're being sent back to Earth." 

"But, commander, they can't do that! It's not right!" said the ensign form before.

Everyone present heartily agreed with her.

Trip was surprised that so many people were going to miss him. 

"We've got to stop them!" Yelled the young ensign who had spoken out before. "Commander Tucker is the best engineer in the world! He belongs here! This is a world class starship and it needs a world class engineer running it!"

The entire of engineering roared in agreement, leaving Trip flabbergasted.

"What?! Why?!" asked Hoshi heartfelt.

"H-He didn't say, he just said that he and Emily were being forced to leave." Said T'Pol slowly, new tears forming on her face. "Oh, *sob*, Hoshi, I can't stand it! I…I…I love him!"

T'Pol gasped at her words, as if she didn't know she loved him already.

"Now *sob* he's leaving. He'll never *sniff* know I love him." T'Pol said sadly, as if she was loosing a piece of herself.

"Well, T'Pol, if you love him as much as it sounds like you love him than you have got to tell him before he leaves. Then he'll know and you'll know how he feels for you." Hoshi said, trying to be as comforting as possible.

T'Pol started to regain her composure, the deep layer of her self that readily expressed her emotions swiftly being covered by the logical part of her brain. 

"No, *sniff*, Ensign Sato, that would be very illogical. He would still have to follow both Captain Archer's and Admiral Forrest's orders. He would still have to leave." T'Pol said as she quickly regained her composure.

"So you're telling me that even though your life would be pretty much over if Trip and Emily left you're not doing a damn thing?"

"Yes, it is the only logical course of action."

Hoshi looked at T'Pol in disbelief.

"T'Pol… *sigh*. Do what you want T'Pol, but think, think really hard about how much you love him. Don't make that choice for him, at least give him that." Hoshi said before she left T'Pol to her thoughts.

The young ensign, Erica Fisher, led a small army of engineers to the bridge.

"Come on everyone! We're almost there! We'll save Commander Tucker yet!" she yelled enthusiastically.

Near the back of the crowd Trip was futilely attempting to stop the young ensign.

"Wait, stop! It's okay! Please stop! There are other ways to do this!" he shouted as his voice fell on deaf ears.

Finally to her destination, Erica yelled: "Captain Archer! I, Ensign Erica Fisher, am here to stop you complying with Admiral Forrest's diabolical plan to kick master engineer Commander Tucker and sweet baby Emily off this ship!"

Jon had been sitting in his ready room when he needed to ask Travis a question. He was thoroughly surprised when Erica and her army of engineers had burst through the door onto the bridge.

Trip squirmed his way to the front of the crowd as Jon said, quite confused: "What in the world? Trip what is going on?"

"Sorry Cap. I couldn't stop her." Said Trip, jutting a finger towards Erica. "She got all of engineering all riled up and led them here like a bunch of barbarians."

Erica glared at Trip, astonished that he would deny their help.

"Ex**_cuse_** me Captain, but I was trying to prevent Commander Tucker from being replaced with a person with half his skill. I would be, as would the rest of engineering be deeply disappointed and angered if you, the Captain, allowed something like this atrocity to happen." Said Erica with an air of someone who has been deeply offended.

Malcolm had been standing by when Erica came in and told both Commander Tucker and Captain Archer off. _Both are her superiors! She should be ashamed of herself!_ He thought angrily to himself, _I better tell her off before the Captain's gentle nature gets the best of himself and his honor!_

"Ex**_cuse_** **_me_** Ensign Fisher, but the fact that Commander Tucker is leaving has nothing to do with you. And talking to the Captain like that? You should be whipped for such insolence!" Malcolm angrily yelled at her.

After this display Malcolm was expecting her to cringe back in fear like many of the other men and women he had yelled at like this. 

A thing you should know about Erica is that she doesn't like men who think they are better than women just because they won the genetic lottery and were born male. She also definitely doesn't like a ladies man and what she had heard from her co-workers and room mate is that Malcolm Reed was both of these things to a gracious extent.

"WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE!!??" screamed Erica, "I come here, non-violently I might add, to ask nicely if Captain Archer would reconsider following Admiral Forrest's orders! If not that, at least try to negotiate with him! Then here **_you_** come yelling and spitting, I might add, right in my face for no good reason, except that you think I was a little forceful in my words when I was talking to the Captain. You are as bad as everyone says you are!!! *humph*!"

Malcolm was taken aback. A normal person, after that display, would have cowered in fear, but this young girl shoved all of his anger and frustration right back at him. He was intrigued. Very inturiged. 

"Malcolm that's enough," said the Captain, with a sigh, "now, Ensign _Fisher_ was it? I completely under stand what you are talking about. I don't think anyone wants Commander Tucker to leave, but orders are orders and I am obliged to follow them. Especially when they make good sense."

"What good sense?" Asked Erica, quite confused.

"I guess you missed that part… Well, the reason that Commander Tucker is being sent back to Earth is that the Admiral and others believe that a spaceship of our caliber is no place for a child." Said the Captain

Erica looked down at her feet, then she glared at him with such fire and malice it caused Jon almost to look away and said: "That doesn't make right."

And with that she wheeled around and stormed off, her little army following like a pack of mangy dogs.

Malcolm went back to his station. He had never in his life met a woman even remotely like that one (except maybe his mother, but he would never admit that to himself). _Jesus Christ! That _woman_ was damn intoxicating! I want her… she'll have me. Just like all the rest…_ he thought to himself. What he didn't know is that Erica Fisher would be a much harder catch than he could ever imagine.

Hoshi found the bridge with a haze of exhaustion covering it. She slowed her pace as she saw the haggard faces of everyone.

"Ummm… Malcolm? What happened?" She asked

"This…woman came and tried to stop the Captain form sending Trip and Emily back to Earth." He said with a sense of awe in his voice.

"Ah… Right. So is the Captain in his ready room?"

"I believe so..." 

She nodded and continued to where the Captain was. She knocked on the door and heard a soft: "Come in."

"Captain? I really need to talk to you." Hoshi said a little worriedly.

"If it's about Trip leaving, save it. I'm having a hard enough time with it by myself and I really don't need another 'Joan of Arc' preaching to me about how incredibly wonderful he is." he said

 "No, I'm not here to preach to you, I came on the behalf of T'Pol"

"What about T'Pol? Is something wrong with her?"

"No… Not physically at least." 

"What? Is she having mental problems?"

"No… not mental…" said Hoshi, sounding like a little girl who has done something naughty.

"I'm confused. How could T'Pol have emotional problems? She's Vulcan."

"Well, believe it Captain. And it's not little either. She's in love."

"How do you know?"

"She told me."

"Why did she tell you?"

"I caught her at a bad time."

"Who is it?"

Hoshi cringed at what she had to tell hem next. She had no idea of how he was going to take the news.

"She… She loves Trip."

Jon froze.

"What?" he exclaimed.

"T'Pol is in love with Trip…But he doesn't know." She quickly added.

"So what you're saying is that I should defy Admiral Forrest's direct orders to make T'Pol happy?" Jon asked cynically.

"No! I'm not! I'm just suggesting that to add on to your list of reasons to not let Trip leave." She added quietly.

"How…" Jon asked, quite flabbergasted.

"Well, he is your best friend isn't he? I doubt that you would want your best friend to leave." She added smugly.

Trip had retired back to his quarters after he couldn't take all of the glares and pitying stares engineering had been giving him. He was sitting at his desk contemplating writing a letter to his family. 

 _I should probably contact them. _Trip thought. _They won't be too surprised, will they? Ugh! Who am I kidding? They'll freak!_

Trip laughed at his own foolishness before starting to write the letter.

_Dear Mom, Dad, and Lizzy_

_How have you been? I'm all right._

_I have some news. A while back, about 14 months ago, the __Enterprise__ found an alien vessel. They needed some engineering help so Jon volunteered me. When I got there, after I helped them, one of their engineers invited me to play a game, but it wasn't an ordinary game. Jeez, I really do not know how to say this. The game…made me pregnant. _

_It was an accident! I didn't even touch her! The game made us telepathic and we could read each other's thoughts. Lizzy, I know you're laughing your head off, so shut up! But the truth of the matter is, is that I have a daughter. Her name is Emily and she's 10 months old._

_I'm being sent home because Starfleet thinks that a star ship is no place for a child so I'll be home soon. I'll be back in about two weeks. We can talk then. _

_                                                            I love you all_

_                                                                        Your loving son/brother_

_                                                                                                Trip_

Trip slowly reached for the send button. His hand hovered over it before he gently pressed it, breathing out a sigh of relief and sadness.

^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^

A/N: there you go! What did you think!? This took me forever to write so I hope you liked it. Be sure to give me lots of suggestions for the next chapter – I won't know what to decide if you don't!

Also, do you think that I am giving T'Pol too many emotions? I can't tell and it's really hard to make her all emotionless one minute and then all sad and depressed over Trip the next. HELP!

**Next Chapter Suggestions**

T'Pol tells Trip that she loves him

Malcolm pursues Erica – unexpected things ensure

Jon tells Hoshi he has feelings for her – or vice versa 

Letter from Trip's Family

Arrive at earth


End file.
